Circuit controller for motion picture films



Aug. 2, 1932. H. H. FENNER ET AL C IRCUIT CONTROLLER FOR MOTION PICTURE FILMS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filedjiv. 20, 1929 23 2 Ho ward W ller/ ff 17 Patented Aug. 2, 1932 1,869,678

UNITED STATES PATEN'Il OFFICE HOWARD H. FENNER AND ROBERT E. sILvIs, or MILL CITY," OREGON, ASSIGNORS T .AU'IOMA'IIC rrtomcron-ornnnror. Inc, or PORTLAND, OREGON, A coaronarron or OREGON fc'moorr CONTROLLER roaMOrION PICTURE FILMS Application filed November 20, 1929. Serial No. 408,551.

*Our invention relates to moving picture With these and incidental objects in view, projecting machines and consists ofa spool the invention consists in certain novel fea- 'or' reel about which the filrn'is wound and tures of construction and combination of -frO-m which the film is unwound in the'proparts, the essential elements of which are set 'jecting' operation. forth in the appended claims, and a preferred The same consists primarily of a shaft, a form of embodiment of which is hereinafter hub 'mountedupon the shaft and'a cylinder shown with reference to the drawings which of insulating material disposed upon the accompany and form a part of this specificaouter periphery' of' thehub. Electric tertion." 'minals' are disposed in 'registerable engage- In the drawings: 1 'me'nt withmetallic bands disposed upon the Fig. l is a fragmentary, sectional, side. outer periphery ofth'e cylinder; Electric View of a reel having afilm disposed thereterminals are in engagement with the 'metalupon and illustrating our new and improved lic bandsfa'nd electric conduits are attached device in position upon the reel.

tolthe terminals. An; insulating hub is dis- Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, sectional, side View pjosed withinthe' reel upon "which the films --of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. '1, the are-mounted and the insulating hub engages same being taken on line 22 of Fig. 1 look- "directlyupontheshaft about which the reel ing in the direction indicated. is disposed. Electric terminals pass longi- Fig. 3 is asectional, end view taken on line m tudinally'throug'h-the insulating hubofi the 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking inthe direction indireel, and are in registerable engagement with cated." I "the terminals that outwardly extend from the Fig.4 is a sectional, end view taken on line insulatingfcylinder'-disposed upon the' hub 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction inditha'trest's upon the shaft. Aplurality of tellcated. i 2m tale electric contacts are adapted to 'place- 3 Like reference characters refer to like parts ment and to beingheld within-the film" disthroughout the several views. i

' posed about the reel and are so placed that, 1 is the primary shaft upon which'a hub as the'film is unwoundfrom the reel, the tellis mounted. The hub 2 is formed into a cuptales will be released at a predetermined and like structure having a spaced side wall 3 dis- M -sttable place within the film to complete elecposed in-sp aced relationship with the primary 30 *tric contacts fOrmaking-and breaking elecportion ofthe hub 2. A flange 4.- outwardly triccircuits asdesired: Y j extends from the element 3 towhich a'sep l.he"priruary Ob ect ofour invention 'is'to arator plate 5 may be attached; The plate provide simple and efiicient means placealole is secured thereto by any suitable fastening I 1 ll 'fi m for making and breaking means, asby rivets 6A. A reel 6 is mounted 35 'electriccircuits when a predetermined posiupon the shaft, the same having an insulattlon is reached upon the film. ing hub 7 disposed centrally of the reel and further Ob ect of our invention resides the hub 7 is mounted directly upon the pri- 'i lq QOIIS'CIHCtiOII mple ing an mary shaft; A plurality of insulated terqu t Wh a p termined P iminals 8A extend longitudinally of the insu- I tion, or ppS t 0I S reached B13011 the film 3S lating hub. An insulating cylinder 9 is dis- S m 1S unwound flfi'f'fl th'reelf posed upon the hub 2 and the terminals 8 A still further object' of our invention conpass longitudinally of the hub 9 and extend sists in providing simple means for indicatoutwardly from the end 10 of the hub. A ing, electrically, that'a certain position, or plurality of bands 11 are disposed in spaced "positions, has beenreached upon the film as relationship with each other and are placed the same is unwound from the reel and for upon the outer periphery of the cylinder 9 T"indicating'that-tli e position has been reached and electric terminals 12 and 13 are disposed fupon the' film at a remote' point upon, or within spaced relationship with each other about,

7 o in, the electricc'iicuit'leading from the device. and register with, the metallic bands 11. The

positive electric terminal 13 is in registerable engagement with the metallic band 14 and forms a positive electric connection. The terminals 8 consist of one or more terminals and the positive terminal 15 is preferably larger than the other of the terminals 8 in order that the electric terminals that are adapted for engagement with the terminals 8 and 15 will always be in the same precise position when engaged and therefore the electric connection 15 is preferably made larger than the others in order that the reel may be placed upon the shaft and be made to engage the electric terminals in precise position at all times. The film 16 is mounted upon, and within, the reel 6 and when it is desired to complete an elec: tric connection, because of a predetermined position having been reached upon the film, the telltales 17 are placed within the film at the precise position at which the electric circuit is to be completed.

e have found splendid results may be obtained by the placing of an adjustable electric carrier 18 upon the outer surface of the reel,

- the same being secured in position by any suitable fastening means as by a set screw 19. The body of the set screw 19 passes through a slot 20 disposed within the adjustable body element 18. The telltale 17 is supported upon a threaded. pin 21 and is positioned normally out of registerable engagement with the contact of the film through the action of the spring 22 disposed upon the pin 21, and when so placed, the terminal end 23 of the telltale is in registerable engagement with the electric terminal 24, but when repressed within the film at the desired position the electric circuit will be broken until the predetermined position, in which the same is placed within the film, is reached and when the film' is unwound therefrom the spring 22 which has been repressed will react and the electric circuit will be completed by the engagement of the terminal end 23 with the electric contact 24:. An electric conductor 25 conducts the current through one of the electric terminals 8 and the circuit will then flow through the terminal 12 that is in registerable engagement with the terminal 8 and thereby completes the electric circuit that may be used for the starting of the adjacent projecting machine or for any other purpose.

We have here shown in Fig. 4, four electric terminals, but we do not wish to be limited to any specific number of terminals as the same will be determined by the character, or use, of the device in the show house in which the same is being used.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form of embodiment herein shown and described, as it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

hat we claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a shaft, a hub mounted upon the shaft, an insulated cylinder mounted upon the hub and in spaced relation with the hub, a plurality of metallic bands disposed upon the insulated hub and in spaced relation with each other, electric terminals outwardly extending from the metallic bands and in spaced relation therewith, a reel removably disposed upon the shaft, an insulating hub forming the engaging surface between the reel and the shaft, a plurality of electric terminals carried within the insulating hub, said electric terminals being in registerable engagement with the terminals carried by the cylinder, a plurality of telltales adj ustably disposed upon the reel and adapted for placement between the film disposed about the reel and adapted for being held down between the film and within the reel by the winding of the film about the reel, and an electric terminal disposed in registerable alignment with the telltale and adapted to registerable engagement therewith when the telltale is released.-

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a supporting shaft, endless electric tcrminals insulated from the shaft and disposed in spaced relation with the shaft, a film reel supported upon the shaft by an insulating hub, an adjustable electric carrier mounted upon the side wall of the reel, a telltale rockably disposed upon the carrier and adapted for being disposed between the film and for being held therein by the film, a terminal disposed outwardly from the body of the telltale, means for rocking the telltale about its support when the film unwinds to release the telltale, an electric terminal disposed in registerable alignment with the terminal of the telltale and with which the terminal of the telltale registers when the telltale is released and means for completing an electric circuit when the registerable engagement is made between the two terminals.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a reel of a motion picture projecting machine, a shaft disposed through the reel and outwardly extending from one side, a hub mounted upon the outwardly extending portion of the shaft, an insulated cylinder disposed in spaced relation upon the hub, a plurality of bands disposed about the cylinder, electric terminals outwardly ex tending from the hub and in direct alignment with the bands, an insulating hub dis posed centrally of the reel, electric terminals disposed within the reel insulating hub, means for connecting the terminals within the respective hubs, adjustable means disposed upon the reel and connected to the electric terminals of the reel insulating hub adapted to be placed jl between portions of the film disposed within the reel, tension means disposed within the last mentioned means for normally maintaining said means in position for closing a circuit and means disposed at the free end of the adjustable means adapted to contact the electric terminals of the reel when the said adjustable means are released from between the film.

HOWARD H. FENNER.

ROBERT E. SILVIS. 

